Experts

"You store carbohydrates in your body as glycogen which is a polymer
of glucose. So if you insisted on eating fructose [fruit sugar] in large
amounts then what you don't use in energy would get converted to glycogen
anyway – the glucose polymer."

Laurence Melton, professor of Food Science
at the University of Auckland.

"That's nonsense. There is every reason to believe the quality of
food is improving, not declining."

Laurence Melton, professor of Food Science
at the University of Auckland, refuting the idea that the nutritional
value of food is being depleted.

"... what they don't tell you is that these diseases and conditions
have not been shown to be due to dietary deficiencies."

Dr. Len Leshin, MD, FAAP.

"Of the eight sugars present in Ambrotose®, Mannatech claims
that only glucose and galactose are found in the foods we eat; the other
"rare" sugars ("glyconutrients") are no longer in
our diet due to overworking of the soil, overprocessing of foods, etc.
I have yet to find any facts that back up this assertion. But even if
it were true, as long as we eat carbohydrates in a varied diet (fruits,
vegetables and grains), our bodies can take these complex sugars and
convert them to the other forms we need. Ambrotose® Associates
often respond to this point by claiming that relying on our normal metabolism
to create the necessary compounds instead of eating them increases the
risk of metabolic errors, but I find no scientific evidence that this
is a problem."

Dr. Len Leshin, MD, FAAP (emphasis added).

"When given in large amounts, carbohydrates such as those found
in Ambrotose can overwhelm the digestive capabilities of the intestinal
tract, causing cramping and diarrhoea."

Dr. Len Leshin, MD, FAAP.

"Mannatech has taken some perfectly credible and very exciting science
and substituted this big link – that taking these pills nutritionally
makes a difference to the way sugars operate in the body. That link hasn't
been substantiated."

George Slim, director of Biotechnology Policy
for the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (and former glycobiologist).

"Your body has a whole series of metabolic pathways which will quickly
flip one sugar into another. So you eat a spoonful of sugar and by the
time it is in your stomach it is already turned into a whole series of
sugars just by the action of acid."

George Slim, director of Biotechnology Policy
for the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (and former glycobiologist).

Mannatech resellers

[George Slim's comment about metabolic pathways is] "True, but nothing
to do with the science of 8 specific sugars. His comment relates to sucrose.
It does not apply to the 8 essential sugars discussed and studied in glycobiology."

Australian Mannatech reseller.

"We use a biochemical pathway chart that shows how the body does
indeed make the sugars it lacks from glucose and galactose. It is
made obvious to people there is a mechanism in the body for this to
happen." ... "The immune system has a system to produce
these sugars by its own means because it absolutely needs them for proper
minimum function."

The same Australian Mannatech reseller (emphasis
added).

"No one, but no one, will ever buy into the practice of eating cheap
so you can give your money away to worthy causes."